Prokhorov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

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Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov (əlyĬksän´dər mēkhī´ləvĬch prô´khərəf), 1916–2002, Russian physicist, b. Atherton, Queensland, Australia. In 1923 he was taken to the Soviet Union by his parents, who had emigrated to Australia to escape the czarist regime. In 1947 he began his research into the coherent radiation of electrons, followed by pioneering work in the field of radio-frequency spectroscopy. With N. G. Basov he created an oscillator based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic waves by the excited molecules of a molecular beam. In the process of developing an ammonia-beam molecular oscillator, Prokhorov formulated the main principles of, and laid the physical foundation for, quantum electronics. For this work, which led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser–laser principle, Prokhorov shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics with Basov and C. H. Townes.

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maser

maser (acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) Device using atoms artificially kept in states of higher energy than normal to provide amplification of high-frequency radio signals. Masers are used to amplify signals from spacecrafts and as oscillators in atomic clocks. US physicist Charles Townes discovered the principle, for which he shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in physics with the Soviet physicists Nikolai Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov. The first maser used electrostatic (charged) plates to separate high-energy ammonia atoms from low-energy ones. Radiation of a certain frequency stimulated the high-energy ammonium atoms to emit similar radiation and strengthen the signal. The principle is also applied to the laser.

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Prokhorov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich

Prokhorov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich (1916–2002) Soviet physicist, b. Australia. He shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in physics with Nikolai Basov and Charles H. Townes. Prokhorov's research in quantum electronics resulted in the development of the maser and laser.

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